ABSTRACT. The progressive increase in the size and weight of farm machinery causes concerns due to the increased risk of soil compaction that arises from non-organized vehicle traffic. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) offers

Agroecology is a discipline of science that is based on several disciplines, primarily ecology and agronomy. Although the first mention of agroecology was more than 100 years ago, it has recently been more intensely developed throughout Eastern European countries, beginning in the 1990s. Basically, such interest developed due to the intensification of agriculture in the second half of the 20th century, which was based on the premise of agricultural research, and related specifically to production. Agroecology is also strongly associated with sustainable agricultural activities, especially organic farming, which began to develop in Eastern European countries around 1990. Due to the unique environment of Eastern European countries, and a combination of several disciplines within them as well as other factors, agroecology in these differing countries can be perceived as somewhat different from one another. This overview focuses on the current state of agroecology in the Czech Republic

During 1993–1995 the effect of conventional tillage, reduced till, mulch till and no-till technology on soil moisture dynamics has been studied in field experiment on Haplic chernozems near Piešťany. The tillage treatments were evaluated under a single cropping of maize and spring barley – common peas – winter wheat crop rotation. Soil samples for gravimetric determination of moisture content were collected from six layers up to 0.8 m, three times per year (April–July). The soil moisture was highly significantly influenced in order of importance by date of sampling, year, growing crops, tillage treatments, soil layer and by interactions year × crops, year × date of sampling, crops × date of sampling, tillage × date of sampling, year × tillage, date of sampling × layer and significant influences by interactions, tillage × crops. The soil under conventional tillage had significantly higher moisture content than tested reduced till, mulch till and no-till treatments. The significant influence of maize stand on better soil humidity condition (16.35%) in comparison to crops grown in a crop rotation (in average 14.10%) has been ascertained.

Acta Technologica Agriculturae 1/2015 Miroslav MACÁK et al.Increasing concerns about climate change mitigation and rising oil prices are creating an unprecedented interest in the development of economical and convenient renewable energy fuels. Recent advances in biomass feedstock development and conversion technologies have created new opportunities for using agricultural land as a means of producing these renewable fuels in larger quantities than relying on wood and agricultural residues alone. Dedicated agricultural feedstocks such as wheat straw, maize stover, rape stover, switch grass, miscanthus, etc. and short rotation willow can abate with high quality petroleum running out in the next 50 years. World governments and the petrochemical industry alike are looking at biomass as a substitute refinery feedstock for liquid fuels and other bulk chemicals. New large plantations are being established in many countries, mostly in the tropics, but also in China, North America, Northern and Central Europe, and also in Russia (Samson et al., 2000). From a total energy use standpoint, however, biomass provides a relatively small percentage of the world's current energy needs. Most of the total energy use is found in more developed countries, not in regions with large populations. Biomass has the potential to provide a much greater share of the world's energy, particularly in the USA. Renewable biomass removes CO 2 from the atmosphere for biomass production and then releases this CO 2 back into the atmosphere when burned.There are different methods of biomass processing for energy purposes. In last years, the pelleting of biomass has become the most used technology for processing of biomass. There are different systems of pellets manufacturing, but the efficiency of biomass using depends upon the type of biomass. Pellets are usually made of lucerne, miscanthus, maize stover, wheat straw, and prickly lettuce.Lucerne pellets have been known to generate dust and fines because of repeated handling and transport. During transport, this product loses or gains moisture, which may affect its quality. Therefore, there is a need to manufacture pellets that are not prone to breakage but still can be palatable to animals. Tabil (1996) conducted an experiment to determine the effect of chop quality, process and machine variables on the quality of lucerne pellets. Three different qualities of lucerne chops, namely low, intermediate and high quality, were used in the experiment.An experiment was conducted by Mani et al. (2004), where maize stover was compacted in a piston cylinder with three pressures, i.e. 5, 10, and 15 MPa, at three moisture content levels, i.e. 5, 10, and 15 % (wb), to produce briquettes. The total energy requirement to compress and extrude briquette was in the range of 12-30 MJ.t -1 . The briquette density was in the range of 650-950 kg.m -3 , increasing with pressure and biomass moisture. Moisture content and pressure had a significant effect on briquette density, durability and stability. Maize stover produced h...

Weather, tillage, and fertilization are the major factors affecting the grain yield of field peas (Pisum sativum L.). However, the impact of tillage and fertilization on yield is not well understood. Therefore, this experiment was initiated in 1999. In this manuscript, we report the data recorded during the period of 2011–2015 to quantify the impacts on yield. Field peas were planted in seedbeds prepared through conventional tillage (CT)—moldboard ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m; and minimum tillage (MT)—disking to the depth of 0.12 m. The crop received three fertilization treatments, including zero fertilization (control); nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) mineral fertilization treatment; and NPK mineral fertilization plus the incorporation of pre-crop biomass. Five years’ average data indicated the highest yield on fertilized treatments (2.85–2.98 t ha−1 vs. 2.66 t ha−1) regardless of the tillage. When comparing the yield of fertilized treatments, the yield under CT (2.98 t ha−1) was significantly higher than that of MT (2.85 t ha−1). However, on non-fertilized treatments (less fertile plots), a higher yield was recorded under MT (2.71 t ha−1) compared with CT (2.40 t ha−1). Overall, the results of this study suggest that fertilizer application together with incorporation of the above-ground biomass of the previous crop may help sustain pea grain yield.

Increase in machinery size and its random traffic at fields cause soil compaction resulting in damage of soil structure and degradation of soil functions. Nowadays, rapid methods to detect soil compaction at fields are of high interest, especially proximal sensing methods such as electrical conductivity measurements. The aim of this work was to investigate whether electromagnetic induction (EMI) could be used to determine trafficked areas in silty clay soil. Results of randomized block experiment showed a high significant difference (p <0.01) in EMI data measured between compacted and non-compacted areas. EMI readings from compacted areas were, on average, 11% (shallow range) and 9% (deep range) higher than non-compacted areas, respectively. This difference was determined in both shallow and deep measuring ranges, indicating that the difference in soil compaction was detected in both topsoil and subsoil. Furthermore, the data was found to have a significant spatial variability, suggesting that, in order to detect the increase in EMI (which shows the increase in soil compaction), data within close surrounding area should be included in the analyses. Correlation coefficient of EMI and penetration resistance (average moisture content 32.5% and 30.8% for topsoil and subsoil) was found to be 0.66.

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